The Greatest Commandment
1“This is the command — the statutes and ordinances — theLORD your God has instructed me to teach you,so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.a2Do this so that you may•fearb theLORD your Godc all the days of your lifed by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you,your son,and your grandson,and so that you may have a long life.e3Listen,Israel,and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly,because•Yahweh,the God of your fathers,has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.f
4“Listen,Israel:TheLORD our God,theLORD is One.g,h5Love theLORD your God with all your heart,with all your soul,and with all your strength.i6These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.j7Repeat them to your children.k Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road,when you lie down and when you get up.8Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symboll on your forehead.m,n9Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Remembering God through Obedience
10“When theLORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham,Isaac,and Jacob that He would give you — a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build,11houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with,wells dug that you did not dig,and vineyards and olive groves that you did not planto — and when you eat and are satisfied,p12be careful not to forget theLORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,out of the place of slavery.q13Fear Yahweh your God,worship Him,and take your oaths in His name.r14Do not follow other gods,the gods of the peoples around you,15for theLORD your God,who is among you,is a jealous God.s Otherwise,theLORD your God will become angry with you and wipe you off the face of the earth.16Do not testt theLORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.u17Carefully observe the commands of theLORD your God,the decrees and statutes He has commanded you.18Do what is right and good in theLORD’s sight,so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good landv theLORD your God swore to give your fathers,w19by driving out all your enemies before you,as theLORD has said.x
20“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaningy of the decrees,statutes,and ordinances,which theLORD our God has commanded you? ’21tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt,but theLORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.z22Before our eyes theLORD inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt,aa on Pharaoh,and on all his household,23but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers.24TheLORD commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear theLORD our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation,as it is today.25Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before theLORD our God,as He has commanded us.’
Footnotes:
a.6:1 Dt 3:12
b.6:2 Dt 14:23
c.6:2 Dt 6:24; 10:12; 14:23; 17:19; 31:12-13; Jos 4:24; 24:14; 1Sm 12:14,24; 2Kg 17:34-39
d.6:2 Dt 4:9; 16:3; 17:19; Jos 1:5; 4:14; 1Sm 1:11; 7:15; 1Kd 4:21; 11:34; 15:5-6; 2Kg 25:29-30
e.6:2 Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16
f.6:3 Ex 3:8,17; 13:5; 33:3; Lv 20:24; Nm 16:13-14; Dt 11:9; 26:9,15; 27:3; Jos 5:6; Jr 11:5; 32:22
g.6:4 OrYahweh is our God; Yahweh is One, orTheLord is our God, theLord alone, orTheLord our God is oneLord
h.6:4 Zch 14:9; Mk 12:29,32; Rm 3:30; 1Co 8:6; Eph 4:6; 1Tm 2:5; Jms 2:19
i.6:5 Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30; Lk 10:27
j.6:6-9 Dt 11:18-20
k.6:7 Dt 4:9-10
l.6:8 Orphylactery ; Mt 23:5
m.6:8 Litsymbol between your eyes
n.6:8 Ex 13:16; Dt 11:18
o.6:10-11 Jos 24:13
p.6:11 Dt 8:10; Neh 9:25
q.6:12 Lv 26:13; Dt 5:6; 8:14; 13:5,10; Jos 24:17; Jr 34:13
r.6:13 Dt 10:12,20; 13:4; Jos 24:14; 1Sm 12:24; Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8; Rv 14:7
s.6:15 Dt 5:9
t.6:16 Ex 15:25; 16:4; Nm 14:22; Ps 78:18,41,56; 106:14; Mal 3:15; Mt 4:7; Lk 4:12
u.6:16 Ex 17:1-7; Dt 9:22; 33:8; Ps 95:8-9
v.6:18 Dt 8:7
w.6:18 Dt 1:35
x.6:19 Ex 34:11
y.6:20 Jos 4:21
z.6:21 Ex 3:19; 6:1; 13:9; 32:11; Nm 20:20; Dt 4:34; 5:15; 7:8; 9:26; 26:8; Jr 32:21; Ezk 20:33-34; Ps 136:12; Dn 9:15
aa.6:22 Is 20:3; Jr 32:20; Ps 135:9; Neh 9:10
